A Non-Olympian "Thanks, Mom"

With a heavy heart I'm posting from Sochi with news my wonderful mother Betty entered hospice care in Oklahoma on Monday night. The news is surprising given her condition just two weeks ago was good. Writing in a fog.

 

Too many non-Games memories to share, but I will always love that Mom bought me the influential-to-seven-year-olds Lake Placid 1980 Olympic color book when I was in first grade, and she took my sister and I to the Los Angeles 1984 Olympic Torch Relay in Edmond, Okla., the fifth-grade summer event that launched my Olympic journeys.

 

In 1989 we volunteered together at U.S. Olympic Festival '89, and the following summer she drove me to the 6 a.m. flight to Minneapolis for my first paid Olympic gig at U.S. Olympic Festival '90 (setting the course for my college days in the Land of 10,000 Lakes). Neither of us knew that flight would be the first of hundreds for this traveler (hard to know who had more nervous excitement).

 

It was Mom who first told me the 1990 news Atlanta won the 1996 Olympics, setting another course for nine Olympiads of fun. On Mother's Day 1996 she held the "runner flag" to start my leg of the Atlanta Olympic Torch Relay. 

 

Before and since her diagnosis of Alzheimer's in 2008, she always supported my five-ringed dreams and every dream. In her determined fight to slow down her condition, we shared dozens of walks and talks -- the above photo from one hike at Lake Arcadia near Edmond -- and it was so fun to show her around D.C., Atlanta and Savannah in recent years. As she did through years of working hard as a self-employed parent (her seamstress business boomed during the 1980s and 1990s in support of my sister's and my dreams), she continued to smile and laugh through each step of her declining condition.

 

I love you, Mom. Thank you, Mom. I will be home to Oklahoma on Friday, the soonest airlines could arrange passage from Sochi. Prayers appreciated for Mom, my dad and sister at her side, and for many family members, friends and caregivers helping mom. Fingers crossed the journey home will get me there safely and in a timely manner.

 

The blog will resume in due time. Thank you for reading and for support.

 

Photos by Nicholas Wolaver

Happy Birthday Phoebe Mills

It's November 2. Happy birthday, Phoebe Mills, the Olympic bronze medalist with 40 reasons to celebrate!

When I was 15 and it was spring of 1988, Mills emerged as a contender for the Seoul Olympics gymnastics competition around the time a newspaper ad appeared in the Daily Oklahoman inviting folks to volunteer for U.S. Olympic Festival '89. Chatting with a friend, I signed up to donate time stating, "Maybe this is one way I could meet that cute gymnast (who is my age), Phoebe Mills."

That volunteer gig changed my life, and on an early volunteer assignment we sat in a rain-soaked tent at the State Fair of Oklahoma recruiting more volunteers and watching Mills win bronze on the balance beam via NBC's Olympic coverage. So cool!

Of course, a few months after Seoul, Mills wrapped up her gymnastics career before the '89 Festival (drat!), but I did meet one of her sisters, a figure skater, when she competed in Oklahoma City. Phoebe was nice enough to reply to a fan letter I sent to her, and that was pretty much the end of that.

Until ...

Fast forward to the summer of 1993, during which I picked up a Texas Torch Relay volunteer spot for U.S. Olympic Festival '93 in San Antonio (another life-shaping experience that influenced my selection of public relations/journalism pursuits). When the relay ended at the gleaming new Alamodome (the Olympic Festival opening ceremony was the venue's debut event), in the press box I learned Phoebe Mills returned to Olympic pursuits as a competitive diver (hooray!).

It was a bummer to learn, however, I'd miss her diving competition by a day or two (with the Torch Relay complete, I went on back to Oklahoma early during the Festival, seriously bummed).

Just a college year later, during the summer of 1994 (best ... summer ... ever, working as U.S.O.F. employee in the Olympic Village at Washington University in St. Louis, site of 1904 Olympic competitions), the stars aligned, sort of, and I shared a brief, albeit embarrassing, introduction to Phoebe Mills. Hopefully she does not remember this intro.

You see, one morning in the Olympic Village dining hall, I dragged myself (dog tired) in to breakfast, and while dispensing grape juice or some other beverage, half-awake I looked up to find Phoebe Mills standing beside me in line at the juice bar. Hello!

In an instant I thought, "Finally, I can tell this person she changed my life! If I hadn't volunteered in 1989, specifically to meet her, my Olympic aspirations might have remained dormant. I'm your No. 1 fan! Thank you for changing my life, Phoebe! You're beautiful ... (etc. etc. more embarrassing crush stuff)."

If only I had spoken up!

Sadly, these thoughts were all for naught as in my dazed and surprised state, the grape juice I dispensed overfilled my glass, pouring over my clueless hands and cascading into a messy pool at our feet.

Mortified, I stepped away apologizing, retreating to retrieve an Olympic Village mop, and by my blushed return, Phoebe Mills vanished from the dining hall and my message of thanks remained only in my brain. Until now.

I appreciate that Phoebe Mills, the newest 40-something Olympian, was driven during the 1980s in gymnastics and that she inspired me (and I suspect thousands of other fans) to step into the Olympic circles and get involved with this great Olympic Family. I am thankful that Phoebe's family pushed her, and her fellow Olympic siblings, as members of a peer family in the Midwestern U.S. (still have the magazine article about their collective five-ringed aspirations).

I also wish our paths had crossed again at one of the eight Olympics and two Olympic bids at which I worked or volunteered over the years (we had a near-miss again in Salt Lake as we apparently were on the same Park City bus but I was on a new-fangled cell phone too many aisles away).

It is really cool that Phoebe continued with athletic pursuits after gymnastics, first as a diver and then as a snowboarding entrant (it's my understanding she now is an attorney and/or board member with the U.S. Snowboarding team). See, she turned out to be beautiful and athletic and smart, too! Bravo!

While visiting family in Oklahoma last week, I stopped by the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame, which is now nestled in the science museum in Oklahoma City. But there was no mention of Phoebe Mills! Hello, will someone in the international gymnastics community wake up and nominate Mills for the Hall of Fame?!? She's a bronze medalist, after all. Duh! Wake up, H.O.F., and get this nomination started, pronto!

Just now online, a quick search yielded Mills' name among the inductees for the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame (whew!).

Writing this post tonight, there was also a reminder that in London at USA House this summer, I shook hands with Bela Karolyi, the famous coach of Nadia, Mary Lou Retton, Mills and other U.S. women's gymnasts, and asked him specifically about Phoebe, "Do you keep in touch?"

Karolyi smiled, then sort of winced and said in that Bela voice, "Not as often as I should."

Here's hoping on this milestone birthday year he remembered to reach out and catch up with Mills.

Phoebe Mills turns 40 today. Happy birthday and thank you.

Photo copyright Corbis via this link

St. Louis Cardinals Win World Series (Bravo!)

Watching the St. Louis Cardinals win the World Series brought back a few Missouri memories.

In 1994, during the closing ceremony of U.S. Olympic Festival (held at the previous Busch Stadium), all of the volunteers and staff were invited onto the field. Amid the athlete presentations and fireworks, it was fun to walk hand-in-hand with my then-girlfriend as we approached the pitcher's mound, waved to the crowd and smooched while tuning out the cheers and activity all around us. At once we also felt like the whole world was applauding our kiss, which was pretty cool. (It actually was quite dark as the field lights were out for the fireworks, so probably only few folks saw us.)

Seeing the final few pitches tonight, then the Cardinals' celebration and the traditional catcher-tackles-pitcher and group hug, I wondered the extent the team was tuning out the applause (intentionally or not) then embracing the cheers. Though I am only a fair-weather fan of the Cardinals (St. Louis was my "hometown" for only one season), it was fun to root for them since their defeat of the Milwaukee Brewers (my second city to Atlanta).

But not one Cardinals player had their spouse or girlfriend on the field to kiss in celebration. I recommend they find a way to visit the pitcher's mound hand-in-hand when possible.

Singapore: Youth Olympic Games

The countdown continues to the debut Youth Olympic Games (YOG), set to take place in 92 days in Singapore.

During the Vancouver Games there were three YOG executives in attendance at the World Olympians Association gathering one evening, and it was a pleasure to learn more about this new event of the International Olympic Committee.

According to the YOG "99 Days" countdown press release, the inaugural YOG will include around 5,000 athletes from up to 205 national Olympic committees. There are 26 sports events to be contested, and culture/education initiatives are part of the festivities. I found the YOG FAQ section quite informative.

From what I've seen so far, this global event has some similarities to the U.S. Olympic Festival concept used by the U.S. Olympic Committee from 1978 to 1995, since the YOG is for younger athletes (though the USOF also included adult Olympians in some competitions, based on the level of athletes each national governing body sent to the Festival, the majority of competitors -- especially in the latter USOFs, tended to be high school athletes).

I haven't yet been to Singapore, but this event is of interest -- anyone out there got a few grand to send my way as "official sponsor of the five-ringed blogger" (LOL)?

Stay tuned for updates on YOG final preparation. And please write to me or comment if you know a specific YOG-ger (competitor heading to the YOG in Singapore).

Photo of skyline via this site. Map via WordTravels.com

Mind Your Mentoring

In recent weeks, the topic of mentoring has been on the brain. At my desk at Edelman, work with our client PINK focused on the launch of this national outlet's "Minute Mentor" segments, which recipients of The Little PINK Book or anyone may access online.

Several mentors helped me on the journey from a high school student to an Atlanta public relations media supervisor. Two of these special people to me have an Olympic connection.

The following paragraphs include first names only because, unfortunately, some big gaps of time lapsed since the most recent contact with these mentors (committing here to get back in touch!).

The first professional mentor who accidentally earned that title is Leslie.

During the year building up to U.S. Olympic Festival '89 -- the Oklahoma City sports event where "it all started" (my hard core enthusiasm for the Olympics, that is) -- Leslie was the public relations director for the Festival organizing committee.

On my first day as a summer volunteer (at age 15, in 1988), Leslie assigned me some phone bank research and, I think, a media list project. Mundane, yes, but Leslie took the time to explain the importance of getting the facts and figures right, for the public (fellow volunteers and potential ticket buyers) and for reporters. She put the project into the context of shaping opinion about the Festival, and that made everything (including spell check by hand from a phone book) more important and interesting.

Several office projects later, Leslie got me working at one of the Festival's P.R. events. Seeing how it all came together -- the details, the food, the fancy business clothes, the media interest -- introduced me to P.R. She encouraged me, taught me, answered all the silly questions. My ego was boosted by some "Nick P.R." the committee embarked on for a volunteer contribution at the end of the summer. I was drunk on publicity and how it worked!

When school finally ended in the spring of 1989, I could hardly wait to get back to volunteering, and Leslie was there teaching how the media could be engaged on several fronts:

• Media stunts (100 volunteers parked Oklahoma-made GM cars in the shape of the OK89 logo for a photo opportunity)


• Media events (the statewide Olympic Torch Relay)


• Dedication ceremonies (the unveiling of a downtown Oklahoma City Olympic-themed statue)
  

These topics and pitching Festival "story angles" and "media relations" all entered my lexicon thanks to Leslie, who was the main organizing committee P.R. contact who worked with the U.S. Olympic Committee during the actual Festival (seeing the U.S.O.C.'s media operations for the Festival was eye-opening, to be sure -- especially in the pre-Fax, pre-Internet days!).

Leslie went on to work for a global energy company before starting a family, and she was an outstanding touchstone as my college degree du jour evolved from psychology to international relations and finally mass communications at Minnesota State University-Mankato (in those days, MSU stood only for Mankato State U. -- Sarah Palin would love it there, as the mascot was very Mavericky!). Though not often enough, I think of all the time Leslie took to care and listen. Hooray for my professional mentor, Leslie!

A shout out to another mentor of the U.S. Olympic Festival '89 experience: Mr. Clay Bennett! He certainly helped Oklahoma to fulfill the Festival's motto "Winning a Place in the World." (I will write more about Bennett in a separate, future post).

Another mentor in my life entered the scene in 1993, but neither of us knew she was destined for mentor status until the summer of 1994 at the U.S. Olympic Festival of St. Louis. Margaret was an executive on loan to the Festival organizing committee (I later learned she served many years as one of Monsanto's top female executives at a time when there were few to zero women above the glass ceiling).

Margaret was tough, but not one to take no for an answer. In our 15 x 20 office shared at the Washington University in St. Louis Olin Business School (built adjacent to the 1904 St. Louis Olympic venues), Margaret masterminded the best U.S. Olympic Festival Athlete Village in the history of the USOF.

When unexpected challenges came along, she found a solution, or taught our team how. She was outstanding at managing tons of data, hundreds of people (and their vast personality differences) and making things work. And she kept everything upbeat and low key, never letting anyone see her sweat (though there were plenty of times we were all up late sweating to get the Village ready).

After the Festival, Margaret was the touchstone of my later college and early career milestones, from landing two internships (the first with the U.S.O.C. intern program, the second at the Fleishman-Hillard home office), to a first-time full-time job with the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games. She also taught the importance of community involvement as her own career evolved into leading a nonprofit organization in St. Louis.

My thanks go out to Leslie and Margaret, and many other mentors who helped along the way.

News From Back Home

Last week in my home state Oklahoma, the U.S. Olympic Committee and local officials announced that Oklahoma City and suburban Edmond, Okla. (my hometown), now each have official U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Training Sites.

According to the U.S.O.C. press release, the "Oklahoma River south of downtown Oklahoma City, in partnership with the Oklahoma City Boathouse Foundation, [is now] an official U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Training Site for rowing and canoe/kayak. The University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond, Okla., already a Paralympic site, added the Olympic designation to become an official site for volleyball, archery and Paralympic sports."

The Daily Oklahoman did a nice job covering the event with a report and video by Mike Baldwin. I've been scanning the coverage but yet to determine whether Clay Bennett, owner of the Oklahoma City Thunder, was in attendance at the festivities (it seems appropriate he'd be in on site given his past work with the U.S.O.C.).

This is great news for Oklahoma and the athletes who will train there. Both of the newly designated venues are tied back to U.S. Olympic Festival '89 (for which Bennett was executive director 20 years ago), the between-the-Olympiads U.S. Olympic event that landed in OKC for 10 great days -- lots of memories volunteering with USOF-89, which kick-started my Olympic interests.

At the USOC ceremony by the Oklahoma River, Olympic gold medalist Bart Conner, who is based in Oklahoma, said, “We [OKC] hosted the United States Olympic Festival in 1989 and we have never hesitated to support United States Olympic and Paralympic athletes and the values they stand for – excellence, discipline, the spirit of fair play. I am so proud of what we have achieved through MAPs to transform our community and put us in a position to receive Olympic Training Site designations. The future is bright and today’s announcement is only the beginning of great things to come.”

Bravo, OKC!

Photo provided by the University of Central Oklahoma press office. Photo includes, from left, U.S. Olympic Committee acting CEO Stephanie Streeter, Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett and UCO Executive Vice President and Vice President for Administration Steve Kreidler.

Jet Setting for 2010

The eye in the sky, er, on the ground at a tarmac in the Seattle area this week apparently broke the news of Air Canada's aircraft decked out for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics.

According to published reports, the photo and video sort of scooped a planned photo opp/unveiling. In the P.R. biz (or any biz, for that matter), one might call this a S.N.A.F.U. (a time or two similar scoops have foiled my own client P.R. efforts - D'OH!).

One time, in Denver, working at the U.S. Olympic Festival Opening Ceremony in Mile High Stadium (summer of 1995), the IOC deployed UPS couriers to deliver the official NOC invitations for Atlanta's Games, and in an elaborate media event/element of the Opening, a UPS plane -- clad with Olympic sponsorship logos -- buzzed the stadium several times (spectacular! so close you could almost see the pilot's logo hat). Then a few minutes later a brown-clad courier ran into the venue (after leaping from a brown package car, I believe) and handed the official IOC invitation to a waiting U.S. Olympic official. The whole thing was punctuated with a live performance by Kenny "I'm Alright" and "Footloose" Loggins. (Disclosure: UPS is a current client of Edelman, the P.R. firm where I work. I was neither employed by Edelman nor UPS at the time of the 1995 event described above.)

For Air Canada, my vote would be to proceed with planned photo opp or flyover in the Winter Olympic City as the plane looks pretty darn cool!

(photo via JetPhotos.net, copyright Mike Head, Jet Wash Photos)

Biden + Palin @ Olympic Site!

Tonight's great debate of Joe Biden and Sarah Palin is now history. I've been channel and Web surfing during the mix of facts and drivel dished out by both candidates, but so far have found no mention of the debate's strong connection to the Olympic Movement (this report is the closest located so far).

The Vice Presidential Debate venue on the campus of Washington University at St. Louis is in the athletic complex -- the David R. Francis Gymnasium -- shown in the photo with this post. That building was the site of two major Olympic events: First, the 1904 Summer Olympic Games of St. Louis (the athletic building is just east of what remains of the St. Louis Olympic Stadium), and second, the 1994 U.S. Olympic Festival.

The Olympic Village for the Festival in the summer of '94 was also close by -- further west.

Though I missed the Clinton:Bush debates of 1992, and other big political events on campus before and since, my Olympic career did have a three-month stop at the Festival working in that St. Louis Festival Olympic Village.

BEST ... SUMMER ... EVER! Oh, the memories!

One memory for tonight: During a post-Festival job (to sustain my finances while remaining in the city for a few extra summer weeks) I worked in the LAUNDRY ROOM of the David R. Francis Gymnasium. Yes, I was "that guy" throwing football uniforms and such into industrial-size washing machines for two glamorous weeks. On breaks I would walk the halls reading up the building's history including candidate Clinton's big moments on campus.

Steps away from the Francis Gym building, also got my first "Olympic stadium smooch" under the gate that commemorates the 1904 Games (14 years later ... still waiting to be in another Olympic Stadium AND with the right woman for the next Olympic stadium smooch -- unfortunately I was traveling solo or single during 1994 to 208 travels to the Olympic stadiums in Los Angeles, Lake Placid, Barcelona, Atlanta, Sydney, Salt Lake City, Athens, Torino and Beijing).

But bringing this back to the debate: I would bet money that neither veep candidate noticed their opportunity to mention an Olympic connection (disclaimer: I did not catch the entire debate, so maybe they did). It might also be a safe bet that one of the candidates didn't know much of what she was talking about in general.

πετρος Ueberroth in the News

I just learned the name Peter comes from the Greek word, πετρος (petros) or "stone" or "rock."

Its a fitting name for Peter Ueberroth, who was born the same day as modern Olympic founder Pierre de Frédy -- Baron de Coubertin died (handing off the torch?).

Ueberroth was in the news today -- the New York Times to be precise -- as his tenure in an official leadership role at the U.S. Olympic Committee may soon come to a close. He's used to headlines, methinks (being Time magazine's "Man of the Year" in 1984 and all), through staging one of the most successful Olympiads in history at Los Angeles.

Mr. Ueberroth is one of the good guys. He was also kind to an awkward 15 year old in Oklahoma City when I approached him requesting an autograph in my copy of "Made In America: His Own Story" (Ueberroth's autobiography of how they pulled off the Games of the XXIIIrd Olympiad). He was about to go on stage to speak to a packed house of potential sponsors for OKC's U.S. Olympic Festival '89 (it was 22 June 1988), so my timing could not have been worse, but he was very polite and answered all of my silly questions before personalizing that book (if located at home I'll eventually scan it and add to this post).

Those few moments were a big inspiration for me. Ueberroth's remarks to me, and on stage that night, helped solidify some of my Olympic aspirations, in the short term leading me to double my volunteer time at the U.S. Olympic Festival (more on that in future posts), and in the long run serving as a reminder of 'what the Olympics is all about' when some efforts to get involved with the Games have hit a snag.

I've had other opportunities to speak briefly with Ueberroth since then -- once in 1996 (during the ACOG days for Atlanta), again in 2004 and just a few weeks ago at USA House in China. He was consistently cordial, just as he was in 1989. Rock solid Olympic values. It's too bad things have to wind down for his involvement with the U.S.O.C. (though not entirely a surprise as he is now 71).